Wednesday, July 18, 2007

The title of this piece is mostly a dirty word among "legitimate authors", and of course, "real publishers". By its very nature, the sobriquet has been earned for the most part. There's a saying you hear when literary people get together that novels are self-published for a very good reason: no professional publishing house would touch one of these books with a ten-foot cattle prod. Many people who self-publish don't know what they're doing.

Okay, before we go any further with this discussion, I have a wee confession: I self-published my first two novels. Were either of them worthy of publishing? The second, yes, the first, probably.

With the rise of computers, the writing game, like many other things, was fundamentally changed. Writers could suddenly produce manuscripts with far less labour (Typewriters, and the inherent typing errors, are no fun when it comes time to produce a final draft). You can cut and paste, organize, check spelling, format and produce multiple copies with ease.

At the publishing end, layout, from cover design to page design to printing, became easy to the point where many half-trained typographers and designers can now produce reasonably good-looking books. Lots of experienced people lost their jobs.

The only thing that really hasn't changed much is the marketing and selling of books, except of course for being able to order instantly at online sources.

Was all this a bad thing? I don't think so. It HAS, though, really changed the number of books that are now out there. Publishers are awash in either manuscripts or enquiries about manuscripts, lots of stores (especially small, local ones) stock self-published books, even book distributors will handle them.

The real question is: are they worth reading? For the most part, too seldom. However, there is the opportunity for these books to be VERY good. It all depends if the writer is good, hired an experienced editor, designed a professional-looking product.

Okay, back to my two novels. They looked good (I had some expert help and I have some ability of my own.) and they did okay. Even the reviews weren't all that bad. But at the centre of this discussion is this: did I make any money?

Yes. The first book, _Knock on Wood_, has sold about 800 copies (Wanna buy one?) and the second, _The Lark Ascending_ is completely sold out, meaning I sold 1500 copies. I also learned a hell of a lot about the way the publishing industry works. I did all my own promotion and learned a lot there, too, especially valuable since I still use that knowledge and those skills every time a new book is published. If I'd actually sold, say 15,000 copies of that second book, I would have made A LOT of money. The average author gets a royalty of between 10% and 15%, with the majority closer to the lower figure. You sell books, generally, at "retail less 40%", meaning that the publisher gets 60% and the store 40%. With a print run of 1000, plus order fulfillment, costs of producing the finished book (designers and such), and promo costs, you can realistically expect to wind up with 20%, maybe 25% of the gross as profit. That's not bad, but you do have to work really hard to get there.

Would I do it again? Yes, if I could devote all of my time to the project. I've always said that the easy part of being an author is the writing of the book. After that, the REAL work begins. When you self-publish, your workload increases dramatically. Unless you hire people to do the promo for you, you have to get out there and sell your book all by your lonesome. You have to convince reviewers to read it. You have to hustle interviews and book selling wherever you can. See what I mean?

Now here's something I'd like to see: one of the big name authors deciding to self-publish. I'm here to tell you that it's the publishing industry's worst nightmare. Obviously, with computerization, it takes far fewer people to produce a book. An author can hire just the right people: a production manager (and maybe one or two temporary office staff) who will hire designers, an editor, deal with the printer, and arrange for promo, anything book production needs. These people can all be hired on a job by job basis. The better known the author, the easier and more effective the promo will be, too. When you get to these lofty heights, the volume of the printing also brings those costs WAY down. The only thing our intrepid author would have to worry about is that he/she would have to front the initial costs. That would be a substantial amount of money, for sure, but I think it would be a good investment to make. Conservatively, the return could be 30% to 35%, maybe even more if the book is a huge hit. Now, that's way better than what ANY author gets from their publisher. This author also wouldn't have to work very hard to walk right by that bad reputation self-publishing efforts normally get. Perhaps the best thing is that the author would control ALL rights to his work. That is a very substantial plus -- especially if Hollywood comes calling.

It works in the indy music business and it could work in publishing. What we're seeing now is the thin edge of the wedge. Want proof? Check out Deadlock Press: www.deadlockpress.com. Their two books so far are very good, very professionally done and are selling well.

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Rick Blechta writes on Tuesdays

Barbara Fradkin writes on alternate Wednesdays

Sybil Johnson writes on Alternate Wednesdays

Donis Casey writes on alternate Thursdays

John Corrigan writes on alternate Thursdays

Charlotte Hinger writes on alternate Fridays

Frankie Bailey writes on Alternate Fridays

Vicki Delany writes on the second weekend of every month

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Aline Templeton

Aline Templeton lives in Edinburgh in a house with a balcony overlooking the beautiful city skyline. Her series featuring DI Marjory Fleming is set in beautiful Galloway, in South-west Scotland. alinetempleton.co.uk

Rick Blechta

Rick has two passions in life, mysteries and music, and his thrillers contain liberal doses of both. He has two upcoming releases, Roses for a Diva, his sequel to The Fallen One, for Dundurn Press, and for Orca’s Rapid Reads series, The Boom Room, a second book featuring detectives Pratt & Ellis. You can learn more about what he’s up to at www.rickblechta.com. From the musical side, Rick leads a classic soul band in Toronto. Check out SOULidifiedband.com. And lastly, being a former line cook with an interest in all things culinary, he has a blog dedicated to food: A Man for All Seasonings.

Barbara Fradkin

Barbara Fradkin is a retired psychologist with a fascination for how we turn bad. Her dark short stories haunt the Ladies Killing Circle anthologies, but she is best known for her award-winning series featuring the quixotic, exasperating Ottawa Police Inspector Michael Green, published by Dundurn Press. The ninth book, The Whisper of Legends, was published in April 2013. Visit Barbara at barbarafradkin.com.

Sybil Johnson

Sybil Johnson’s love affair with reading began in kindergarten with “The Three Little Pigs.” Visits to the library introduced her to Encyclopedia Brown, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and a host of other characters. Fast forward to college where she continued reading while studying Computer Science. After a rewarding career in the computer industry, Sybil decided to try her hand at writing mysteries. Her short fiction has appeared in Mysterical-E and Spinetingler Magazine, among others. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in Southern California where she enjoys tole painting, studying ancient languages and spending time with friends and family. Find her at www.authorsybiljohnson.com.

Donis Casey

Donis is the author of six Alafair Tucker Mysteries. Her award-winning series, featuring the sleuthing mother of ten children, is set in Oklahoma during the booming 1910s. Donis is a former teacher, academic librarian, and entrepreneur. She lives in Tempe, AZ, with her husband, poet Donald Koozer. The latest Alafair Tucker novel, The Wrong Hill to Die On (Poisoned Pen Press, 2012), is available in paper or electronic format wherever books are sold. Readers can enjoy the first chapter of each book on her web site at www.doniscasey.com.

John R Corrigan

John R. Corrigan is D.A. Keeley, author of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Peyton Cote series, which is set along the Maine-Canada border. Bitter Crossing (summer 2014) will be the first of at least three novels in the series. Born in Augusta, Maine, he lives with his wife and three daughters at Northfield Mount Hermon School in western Massachusetts, where he is English department chair, a teacher, a hockey coach, and may very well be the only mystery writer in North America who also serves as a dorm parent to 50 teenage girls. A Mainer through and through, he tries to get to Old Orchard Beach, Maine, as often as possible. You can see what he's up to by visiting www.amazon.com/author/DAKeeley or dakeeleyauthor.blogspot.com or on Twitter (@DAKeeleyAuthor).

Charlotte Hinger

Charlotte Hinger is a novelist and Western Kansas historian. Convinced that mystery writing and historical investigation go hand in hand, she now applies her MA in history to academic articles and her depraved imagination to the Lottie Albright series for Poisoned Pen Press. charlottehinger.com

Frankie Bailey

Frankie Y. Bailey is a criminal justice professor who focuses on crime, history, and American culture. Her current project is a book about dress, appearance, and criminal justice. Her mystery series featuring crime historian Lizzie Stuart is set mainly in the South. Her near-future police procedural series featuring Detective Hannah McCabe is set in Albany, New York. Visit Frankie at frankieybailey.com.

Vicki Delany/Eva Gates

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers. She is the author of more than 25 books, including the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year Round Christmas cozy series, the Constable Molly Smith books, standalone novels of suspense, the Klondike Gold Rush series, and novellas for adult literacy. As Eva Gates, she is the author of the national bestselling Lighthouse Library cozy series from Penguin. Find Vicki at www.vickidelany.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor/

Mario Acevedo

Mario Acevedo is the author of the Felix Gomez detective-vampire series. His short fiction is included in the anthologies, You Don’t Have A Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens and Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery, and in Modern Drunkard Magazine. Mario lives with a dog in Denver, CO. His website is marioacevedo.com.